Track sanding apparatus for steam locomotives and other power-propelled vehicles



him: 15, 1948.

TRACK SANDING APPARATUS .FOR STEAM LOCOMOTIVES W. DOWNS AND OTHERPOWER-PROPELLED VEHICLES Filed April 28, 1945 Patented June 15, 1948rasc'x SANDING APPARATUS nca STEAM LocoMo'rIvEs AND OTHER POWER-PRO-BELLE!) VEHICLES Wilson Downs, Shildon, England Application April 28,1945, seriarNo. 590,794 In Great Britain February 23, "1944 Section 1,Public Law 690,-August 8, 1946 Patent expires February 23, 1964 4Claims. 1

This invention relates to track sanding apparatus for steam locomotivesand other powerpropelled vehicles, and has for its object to 'pro- Videan improved construction.

Further and favourable objects will appear from the followingdescription.

Track sanding apparatus in accordance with the present invention is orthe kind wherein a jet of steam, compressed air or other fluid underpressure in the lower portion of a sand pipe de- "pending from a sandbox on the locomotive or the like ejects sand onto the track, and ischaracterised in that the sandin the box, is, by the suction of thejet,drawn up into a pipe within said box through a slot or slots in theunderface of said pipe which is connected to the upper end of the sandpipe and a heated surface located adjacent the slotted pipe for dryingthe sand passing thereto.

Where steam or other heated gaseous fluid is employed, advantage is alsotaken of the heat available to dry the sand adjacent to the slotted pipewhich forms the suction tunnel in the sand box, in order to facilitatethe feeding of the sand to the sand pipe and its distribution on to thetrack.

As applied to a steam locomotive, the pipe supplying steam to the jet inthe lower portion of the sand pipe is preferably associated with theslot in the underface of the pipe in the sand box, in which case heatfrom the steam pipe will dry the sand adjacent to said slot and ensurean immediate supply of dry sand to the sand pipe. The pipe in the sandbox may be coiled, and the slot in its under face may be continuous orinterrupted at intervals.

In the compressed air operated form of device, it may be considereddesirable to dispense with one of the combination of pipes in the sandbox and to attach the air pipe connection directly to the jet near theoutlet of the sand pipe.

According to one construction adapted for the use of steam, the sand boxhas inwardly-sloping sides and is mounted as usual on the running boardor equivalent member of the locomotive or the like. At the bottom, thebox is closed by a fitting having two apertures connected respectivelyto the upper end of the sand pipe and to a steam pipe leading to the jetin the lower portion thereof, In the box a coiled pipe is providedhaving a substantially continuous narrow slot in its underface, andadjacent to said slot there is arranged a steam pipe connected at itsupper end to a supply of steam and at its lower end through the fittingat the bottom of the box 2 to the pipe connected to the jet. The steampipe runs parallel wih the underface'of the coiled pipe in the box andisdisposed at such distance therefrom that its provides long narrowapertures on each side of theslotin said underfa'ce.

The steam jet is provided within a fitting mounted near the lower end ofthe sand pipe, such jet being concentric withthe short straight terminalportion of the sand pipe beyond said fitting which is directed on to thetrack so that said jet jnas an unobstructed outlet and distributesthesan'd on to the track.

The invention. will be further described with reference to theaccompanying drawings where this construction of improved sanding devicefor a steam 'locoinotive is illustrated by way of exainple'and'whereimlfig. 1 is a vertical section of the sandbox and Fig.2 is a detail view to a larger scale of the associated coiled steam pipeand slotted pipe within the box.

' Referring now to the drawings, the sandbox 'gener'ail'y designated '5has a cylindrical portion 2 depending from an open top flanged at 3 andsecured to the-running board 4 of the locomotive, which runhing bo'ardis 'apertured so that the b'ox may be charged with sand in anyconventional or appropriate manner.

Below the cylindrical portion 2, the sandbox is formed with convergentor inwardly sloping side walls '5 and at the bottom it is closed by aplate fitting 6 having two glands or unions 7 and 8 shown connectedrespectively to the upper ends of the sand pipe 9 and of a steam pipe l0terminating in a jet which may be of any known or appropriate formwithin a distributor fitting l l carried by the sand pipe.

Within the box I a coiled pipe I2 is provided having an air inlet l3through the cylindrical side wall 2 of the box at its top end and asubstantially continuous narrow slot M on its underface while adjacentto this slot 2. correspondingly coiled steam pipe [5 runs, beingconnected through a union I 6 at its upper end and through anappropriate control valve (not shown) to a supply of steam, and at itslower end through the union 8 to the steam pipe l0 depending from thesandbox to the distributor H wherein is the jet. The coiled portion 15of the steam pipe runs parallel with the underface of the coiled pipe I2 within the box I and is disposed at such a distance from the coiledpipe that long narrow apertures are formed between the pipes on eachside of the slots 14.

The enlarged detailed view represented in Fig.

2 shows one convenient way of arranging the pipes to attain this end,the coiled pipe l2 being formed with bridges I! at regular intervalsalong the slot l4 in its under face, and the coiled portion l5 of thesteam pipe being secured to it by clips so that as will be appreciatedowing to the steam pipe being held in abutment with the bridges IT bythe clips, it is uniformly spaced therefrom over the whole length of theadjoining coiled portions.

Within the distributor H the jet (not shown) of the steam pipe I opensinto a straight terminal portion IQ of the sand pipe which is directedon to the track so that the jet has an unobstructed outlet anddistributes the sand thereon.

In operation, when the steam valve is opened, the suction caused by thejet is effective to draw the sand up into the coiled pipe i 2 from thesandbox I through the slot l4 in the under face of the pipe and to passthe sand through said pipe into the sand pipe 9 to the lower terminalportion l9 thereof where it is ejected on to the track by the jet. Heatfrom the steam passing along inside the coiled portion l of the steampipe dries the sand in the vicinity of the pipe, that is immediatelyadjacent to the slot M in the coiled pipe l2, and there is thus ensureda ready supply of dry sand and under all conditions of use while thesand cannot pass from the sandbox I to the sand pipe except when thesteam valve is open and the jet in operation.

As applied to a locomotive, sand boxes as above described are placed tosupply sand in front of and behind the driving wheels, the steamconnections to the jets of the sand boxes for foreway and for backwaysanding being separately controlled from the cab so that steam can beallowed to pass simultaneously to the jets of either set as may berequired, the sand being forcibly projected by the steam under thewheels, thus producing the maximum effect.

While primarily intended for steam locomotives, the improved sand box isapplicable to rail coaches and other steam-propelled vehicles, and mayalso be applied to electric locomotives and trains, and to othervehicles where a supply of 4 compressed air or other fluid underpressure is available.

What I claim is:

1. Track sanding apparatus of the kind wherein a jet of gaseous fluidunder pressure in the lower portion of a sand pipe depending from asandbox on the vehicle ejects sand on to the track, characterised by theprovision in the sandbox of a slotted pipe connected to the sand pipe,into which slotted pipe sand is drawn by the suction of the jet, and aheated surface located in proximity to the slotted pipe for drying thesand passing thereto.

2. Track sanding apparatus comprisin a sandbox, a sand pipe terminatingin a distributor and a steam pipe terminating in a jet, both dependingfrom said box, and a double coiled pipe arrangement in said boxcomprising a coiled connecting pipe between the steam pipe and itssupply, and superposed on such connecting pipe, an air pipe slotted onits underside for the passage of dry sand to the sand pipe when the jetis operative.

3. Track sanding apparatus according to the preceding claim 2 whereinthe coiled connecting pipe is located immediately subjacent to the slotin the underface of the air pipe leaving narrow apertures on each sidefor the passage into the air pipe of sand dried by heat from theconnecting pipe.

4. Track sanding apparatus according to the preceding claim 2 whereinthe slotted pipe is provided with bridges across the slot formingabutments against which the connecting pipe is positioned, for instanceby means of pipe clips encircling the parallel pipes.

WILSON DOWNS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

